Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I want to know why ball pythons have become so insanely popular

If you ask me, the normal ones aren't very exciting looking and the cool-looking ones are disgustingly overpriced

and I've never known a ball with a very interesting personality

:/

can anyone offer me some insight as to why everyone loves ball pythons?
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.Owen.:.

"Wound opens; reveal this broken man and soon, there's notions of blood on his hands."

"That Owen kid...man...he really loves that snake of his." ~Owen

well i cant talk for everyone else but here is what i think.
first the normals are so easily affordable
second they are smaller in size and they are easy to handle compared to much larger snakes.
third all the possiblities in color morphs. yes they can get very expensive but a person who is interested in it might be willing to spare the cash to get some hets and breed there own. There is such a wide varity of color morphs that it is atracting alot of people. every person has there taste and balls now come in so many colors that alot of people are getting interested in breeding.
For the most part they are easy to take care of. they dont eat a ton like a reticulated or other large snake. you never have to worry about them getting so big that they will consume the family pitbull. lol

well hope that helps a little. i am sure you will get a ton of other responses from teh regulars here also.

Its very simple:
Size - able to house many BP in small quarters
Disposition - Very docile
**Variations - Albino, Pastel, Mojave, Piebald and way too many more to name as the list is growing by the day.

I started 8 months ago and have 7 BP's. I have 2 Pastels and mostly females to breed the male to. I think half of the reason people like them so much is due to the prices. If the Morph's were all $100 you would have nothing to aspire to have. Everyone would be breeding Mojave’s. This is what makes the collecting of them so popular and in many cases an addicting hobby or business. I spent around $2500 for my pastel's and probably a total of $250 for 4 females that are almost ready to breed. Next year I will prospect ably produce 3 clutches of Pastel X Normal and have made my money back 3 fold if I can sell them at half of what they are now. Then The next season $ will be able to produce a Super Pastel which sells for 10-15K now. All from a $2750 investment. This is why people love them.

Pretty obvious to me. Seems to me that you are someone who has either put money into other projects or are just trying to rock the boat. Just enjoy what you enjoy and let others do the same. Good luck with what ever you do have going, if anything.

I read my post and realized it basically says its just for the money. In reality a lot is due to the money. But I have met many people in this industry that Love their snake and take very good care of them as I am trying to as well. So please realize that the last post may have come out a bit wrong because it defiantly is not just for the money but for the fun of the collecting and care of any animal or reptile.

-Bill

BIll, we forgive you. But your right part of it is the money. And that money can help buy other morphs.
there are a few morphs out there i want but the only way i would be able to afford them would to start off with a pair of hets and then sell the offspring so i could then use the money to buy more balls. A never ending cycle and then i can prove my ex girlfriend wrong. I will have a ton of balls. LOL

'Nother case o' the "Sour Grape Syndrome". Nothing a $25,000 check can't fix.........

interested in boas???? JMO, but there's nothing attractive about a columbian boa......the albinos, snows, jungles, stripes, etc morphs are more attractive, but then again, demand a higher price...even certain locales. May not be as high priced as a lesser, but are still costly. And just like every other snake morph....prices drop as production increases.

Same goes for retics, bloods, carpets......even corn morphs are priced higher than a normal corn..(yes I know no corn morph has a thousand dollar price tag)......but you're paying for rarity..you're paying for someone else's efforts to bring that morph "into production".

And I believe all bps are beautiful....just as do most bp hobbyists. Yes there are scammers out there, but the MAJORITY keep and breed bps for the love of the snake....not the money! No different than why you are interested in what you're interested in.

Buy a bp......you'll be glad you did!......(they're the best drug out there)

"yes I know no corn morph has a thousand dollar price tag"

Lavender motley het for opal= $1000.00 cornsnake.
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-Dennis

Butter motley striped amel het anery = 1150.... I've seen one in person, and it was cool.... wouldn't pay that much for it, but it was still nice to look at.

Besides, easy to tell why corn morphs are less than balls.... corns produce anywhere from 15 to 30 eggs PER CLUTCH!!! Heck, I personally had a pair of snow corns produce a 27 egg clutch this year out of which 24 perfect snows hatched. And I could have double clutched the female if I'd wanted. With that kind of propagation, how could corn morphs not be less than ball morphs??? Also, the fact that corn morph production has been going on a WHOLE lot longer than ball morph production. If I'm not mistaken, the first albino corns were produced back in the mid sixties, right? That's a good 35 to 40 years worth of experimentation going into corn breeding. Ball morphs are still relatively new in comparison.

New ball morphs that are independant of all others come out regularly with each breeding season. The only "new" corn morphs being produced ( for the most part ) are combinations of existing color and pattern traits. Very few "new" things are being discovered in the corn world. And with close to 150 morphs out there, no wonder.

The reason I find ball morphs and ball breeding so intriguing is its relative newness to the herp field. There are lots of combos and crosses out there that haven't even been attempted, much less proven out or produced. The possibilities are endless.

As far as the money goes, I'm not looking to make a living breeding pastels. I want to make enough money to pay for the rats I have to feed my balls, and pay for maybe one new morph or het pair a year.... example.... next year I hope to produce enough with my pastel and three normal females to buy a male albino and a het female....

I just like the way they look. and if I can make my hobby (read obsession) support itself through breeding, then so much the better. Just my take on it.

Dave.

I just realized I may sound a bit beligerent in this message...

Simple reason... I'm drunk. Boston just won again, and I've had a twelver of newcastle.... Great reason to be drunk....

Sorry for any harshness, only letting my opinion be known.

After all.... En Vino Veritas....

Dave.

My bad on the corn prices guys......*note to self*..don't run off mouth on something you don't know.........

..and I would have to be drunk also to watch a boring a$$ baseball game.....so no sorry needed.

Its a matter of choice. Period.
If you are looking at them as pets:
Some people like pitbulls, others like hairless cats, some even keep bears. Some pets are expensive (even fish).

If you want to look at it as a hobby:
Some people like skydiving, others put together insanely small ships and then put them into old beer bottles, some people even think collecting used postage is cool.

If you want to look at it as a business:
Some businesses clean toilets, some pick up garbage, others make a buck by strapping a rocket to a man and shooting his but into space. No matter what business the owners INVEST in it still takes money to make money.

I for one am completely aware that I am a little 51/50 and since crazy, biker, rockers with tattoos are the only people who like snakes...I'm glad I'm not a biker. I think.
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This is where my signature goes.

Well Said. Fully agree but when I tried to say it jiberish comes out.

You all are taking time out of your day to give this joker a serious reply. He comes onto a ball python forum, says they're ugly, uninteresting and overpriced. He's not looking for info, he's making people dance. And you've given him a good time.

Laura

Sorry, this is long....
I'd have to say that it's not true that no Ball Pythons have outstanding personalities! I got my Ball because of a great experience I had over the summer working with others.

Ok, background info: I worked in the education department at Utah's Hogle Zoo this summer giving animal presentations to hundreds of people. We had many choices of animals to use including a Ball Python, Corn snake, Red-tail Boa, Eastern Indigo snake, Rubber Boa, and two Kingsnakes. I'd have to say "snuggles" the ball python came in first on my list of favorite snakes (the Boa and Indigo came in a close second). The crowd always loved her too. She was big enough for people to recoil at first glance, but small enough for them to overcome their fear and touch her. This got me hooked onto the herps for a personal collection.

So for me, I don't plan to breed. This is just a "pet" that I will probably use for educational purposes. There are so many unique things to learn about pythons and snakes in general, I hope to teach others about them!

Sorry this was long... hope it helps you see why Balls are special to everyone in their own way!
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1 Normal Ball
2 Red-ear Slider Turtles
2 Betta fish
1 Childlike Significant Other

In a few years once I own a house I plan on having a unique collection of animals including but not limited to:

more snakes (all kinds)
hedgehogs
Kookaburra (probably the only kind of bird I will get)
Kangaroos
Sheep
Cows
Pot-bellied Pig (for a house pet)
Dogs
Cats
Turtles (in a Koi pond)
Tortises
Salt Water Tank

We'll see what else comes up in the course of my career too...

Wish me luck!
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1 Normal Ball
2 Red-ear Slider Turtles
2 Betta fish
1 Childlike Significant Other

As to normals not being "exciting." I think they are incredibly beautiful, and unique. Personally, I can't tell the difference between different normal cornsnakes, but some people can. Those people have stared at their snakes for long enough to see the little unique nuances that make that animal special. Similarly, I can tell the difference between each of my 11 normal ball pythons quite easily and unmistakeably.

As to being disgustingly overpriced, ALL snakes would be so "over"-priced if their reproductive rates were as slow as a bp. If you have an albino x albino bp cross, you may have anywhere from 2-8 albinos hatch. But if we do the same with Burmese pythons, you should have upwards of 30 baby albino burms. It's simple: supply & demand. Nature creates a relatively small supply that can't keep up with the demand, so those few that ARE supplied fetch a premium because there are 1000 people that would like to have that ONE snake. The price goes up until only one person is there and willing to pay said price. Knowing these basic economic principles, you might say that they aren't OVERpriced at all! Rather, they are priced JUST right!

okay I have to admit that I didn't know the reproductive rate for ball pythons and considering the rarity of some of the morphs, I can see how the prices can be driven up so high. Personally, I wouldn't pay thousands for a ball python but hey...that's me I guess

and thanks everyone...It's been interesting to see everyone's responses and reading why all of you like your snakes

and yeah we each have our own preferences...

hope all of you have fun with your ball pythons and maybe one day I'll be persuaded to get one

later all-
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.Owen.:.

"Wound opens; reveal this broken man and soon, there's notions of blood on his hands."

"That Owen kid...man...he really loves that snake of his." ~Owen

Kinda straying from the topic but....
People tend to place more value on what they pay alot for. I'm sick of all the *disposable* pets that someone has paid a few bucks for and have the "oh well, if it dies we'll get another, only cost me $10" attitude.

Cheryl